First Solar Commissions 52.5-MW Shams Ma’an Plant in Jordan - SolarStar

The plant is owned by a consortium of investors consisting of Diamond Generating Europe Ltd., Nebras Power Q.S.C. the Kawar Group. First Solar  significantly contributed to the development of the project before divesting its stake being appointed the Engineering, Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor. Shams Ma’an has a 20-year power purchase agreement with the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), the country’s power generation distribution authority.

“First Solar has delivered a high-performance solar  energy asset on schedule with an excellent safety record. There is no doubt that this power plant will deliver on its promises, reliably generating energy over its lifetime forming the cornerstone of Jordan  ’s energy security strategy,” said Karim Kawar, Chairman of Kawar Energy.

The plant, which accounts for approximately 1 percent of Jordan’s total energy generation capacity, produces clean electricity using over 600,000 high-performance First Solar Series 4 thin film modules, which deliver up to 5 percent more specific energy in Ma’an than conventional crystalline silicon panels. The modules are mounted on single-axis trackers that allow the facility to generate up to 20 percent more energy.

“Shams Ma’an has been engineered for performance is further evidence of the fact that First Solar’s high-performance modules can deliver more energy than conventional photovoltaic technologies in Jordan across the middle East,” said Ahmed S. Nada, Vice President Region Executive for First Solar in the middle East.

Significantly, the facility was constructed by a workforce that was almost entirely Jordanian, with First Solar spending over 40,000 man hours on training alone, creating a new skills resource for the country.

“Shams Ma’an has facilitated the transfer of several gigawatts of First Solar’s knowledge experience to Jordan. Our hope is that the skills acquired through this project will further enable Jordan’s solar energy ambitions,” said Dr. Raed Bkayrat, First Solar’s Vice President of Business Development for the middle East.

The project takes First Solar’s installed capacity in the middle East to over 70 MW AC with a further 200 MW AC to be added when the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is completed in 2017.